Facebook Marks Coming Out Day with 'Came Out' Addition

Facebook has made headlines in the past for adding stickers and other features that celebrate Pride, but this Coming Out Day the social media giant has come up with another innovation, NBC News reports.

Users can now add "Came Out" among other major turning points in their lives, such as "Got Married," the report said. The NBC News report offered instructions as to how to accomplish this: Click on "Life Events," select "Family & Relationships" from the menu that appears at that point, and when a selection of options for different life events appears, choose "Came Out" from among them. Users can then input the date on which they came out.

Other news sources noted that some Facebook users are coming out for the first time by selecting the Came Out option and letting the current date show.

Facebook VP Tudor Havriliuc told NBC News that the social media service "is a way for you to come out, celebrate your pride and find support."

Noted Havriliuc, "Visibility is so important because it changes hearts and minds about being LGBTQ when friends and family see us living our true lives."

It's not bad sequel to the flap that resulted four years ago when Facebook began deleting accounts that ran afoul of its "real names" policy. Many of these accounts belonged to trans users and drag performers, who felt they had been singled out.

Eventually Facebook offered an apology to those who had seen their accounts taken down for using drag names.

Havriliuc told NBC News that the company was "excited to give more people the opportunity to 'come out,' " and added, "For National Coming Out Day, we hope people will share their coming out story and use the hashtag #ComingOutToShare to follow along with the wider community."

Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Assistant Arts Editor. He also reviews theater for WBUR. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.